Three-time and defending FIM Superbike World Champion Jonathan Rea picked right up where he left off at the end of the 2017 season by topping day one of testing Tuesday at Jerez, in Spain.

Riding his factory Kawasaki ZX-10RR built to new-for-2018 technical rules including a lower 14,100 rpm rev limit for Kawasakis, Rea lapped the 2.75-mile road course in 1:39.862.

While that was the best time out of the 16 World Superbike riders in action Tuesday and it was under the current World Superbike Race Lap Record (1:40.938, Marco Melandri, 2017), it was somewhat off the World Superbike Circuit Best Lap Record of 1:38.960 (Marco Melandri, 2017) and the lap time Rea did during a test at Jerez in November, 1:37.986.

The best of the rest on Tuesday was Alex Lowes, who did a 1:40.064 on his Pata Yamaha YZF-R1. That’s about a second faster than Lowes went during the last races at Jerez.

Rea’s teammate and former Superbike World Champion Tom Sykes was third-fastest on the day with a 1:40.178.

Aruba.it Racing Ducati riders Marco Melandri (1:40.238) and Chaz Davies (1:40.704) ranked fourth and fifth, respectively, Tuesday. Joining Melandri and Davies on track at Jerez was Lorenzo Zanetti, who has been given the task of testing the racing version of Ducati’s new Panigale V4 in preparation for its racing debut in 2019.

Lowes’ teammate Michael van der Mark posted the sixth-best lap time, a 1:40.758. He was followed in the order by Irishman Eugene Laverty, who did a 1:40.775 on his Milwaukee Aprilia RSV4 RF.

Eighth on the list was Leon Camier, who lapped the circuit in 1:40.888 on his Red Bull Honda CBR1000RR SP2. Just 1.172 seconds behind Camier was his new teammate, American Jake Gagne (1:42.060), who was riding his Honda Superbike at Jerez for the first time.

Gagne’s countryman PJ Jacobsen and his team, TripleM Racing Honda, are not participating in the test at Jerez due to some delays in the arrival of parts for their CBR1000RR SP2 Superbike, Jacobsen informed Roadracingworld.com. However, TripleM Racing and Jacobsen will participate in the next official World Superbike test January 28-29 in Portimao, Portugal.

Motul FIM Superbike World Championship

Circuito de Jerez, Spain

January 23, 2018

Day One Test Times (all on Pirelli tires):

1. Jonathan Rea, UK (Kaw ZX-10RR), 1:39.862

2. Alex Lowes, UK (Yam YZF-R1), 1:40.064

3. Tom Sykes, UK (Kaw ZX-10RR), 1:40.178

4. Marco Melandri, Italy (Duc Panigale R), 1:40.238

5. Chaz Davies, UK (Duc Panigale R), 1:40.704

6. Michael van der Mark, Netherlands (Yam YZF-R1), 1:40.758

7. Eugene Laverty, Ireland (Apr RSV4 RF), 1:40.775

8. Leon Camier, UK (Hon CBR1000RR SP2), 1:40.888

9. Lorenzo Savadori, Italy (Apr RSV4 RF), 1:41.038

10. Loris Baz, France (BMW S1000RR), 1:41.129

11. Michael Rinaldi, Italy (Duc Panigale R), 1:41.314

12. Jordi Torres, Spain (MV Agusta F4 RC), 1:41.314

13. Yonny Hernandez, Colombia (Kaw ZX-10RR), 1:42.035

14. Jake Gagne, USA (Hon CBR1000RR SP2), 1:42.060

15. Leandro Mercado, Argentina (Kaw ZX-10RR), 1:42.143

16. Toprak Razgatlioglu, Turkey (Kaw ZX-10RR), 1:42.168

17. Ondrej Jezek, Czech Republic (Yam YZF-R1), no time recorded